Rose asks Hall to restore eligibility

Pete Rose is appealing directly to baseball’s Hall of Fame to restore his eligibility, arguing the lifetime ban he agreed to in 1989 was never intended to keep him out of Cooperstown.

A seven-page letter to Hall president Jeff Idelson on Tuesday made the case that the settlement agreement reached by Rose and then-Commissioner Bart Giamatti didn’t include a provision that he be ineligible for election to the Hall of Fame.

“At the time Pete agreed to the settlement, the consequences of being placed on the ineligible list were clear and specific — and did not include a Hall of Fame prohibition,” according to the letter, signed by Rose’s longtime attorney Raymond C. Genco and attorney Mark Rosenbaum.

The Hall of Fame changed its bylaws two years after Rose’s banishment to make permanently banned players ineligible for the Hall, which shut out the career hits leader as long as he remained barred from baseball.

In a statement, Idelson said, “Pete Rose remains ineligible for Hall of Fame consideration based on the Hall of Fame’s bylaws, which preclude any individual on baseball’s ineligible list from be- ing considered for election.” Spokesman Michael Teevan said MLBwould have no comment on Rose’s latest appeal.

Commissioner Rob Manfred in December denied the 75-yearold Rose’s latest petition for reinstatement, but he also stated it wasn’t his responsibility to determine whether Rose should be eligible for the Hall. Petitioning the Hall to change the rule, Genco said, was the next logical step.

Manfred allowed Rose to participate in the retirement of his number by the Reds and his induction into the Reds Hall of Fame in June.